Stack the Deck
by SilverThorn-2000
Summary: A new super team drops into Jump City with no warning, but why?


Stack the Deck

SilverThorn-2000

Chapter 1

First, there was dark. Then, there was light and an undecipherable cascade of colors. Finally, there was the taste of dirt.

_Funny_, Silver mused. _It's not a taste that changes much._ He planted his hands down, and carefully moved to a standing position. He dusted himself off and looked around. The rest of his team was scattered around the park, in positions from merely uncomfortable to truly grimace worthy.

Of course, given the nature of what superpowers did to a person, it took a lot of grimace worthy before any actual damage occurred. Silver glanced around again. "Everyone here? Pitbull?"

"Present." The bulky African-American dropped from a tree with a thud.

"Rampage?"

There was a spitting noise as the lanky youth pulled his head free of the patch of sand near the volleyball net. "I'm-pphh!- here. Lord, I'm never playing volleyball again…"

"Lockdown?"

"Yes?" came the response from behind Silver. Silver glanced back at the brown-haired teen, only to see his back as Lockdown tore off after an ice cream vendor.

"Typical," Rampage said, holding back a laugh. Silver rolled his eyes with a grin.

"Midnight?"

"What did you do?" came the sharp female voice as the redhead strode up, brushing leaves and dirt from her black clothing. Silver didn't respond, looking around again.

"Orochi?"

"Help?" came a softer female voice, and the heads of the group turned to stare at the blond girl hanging from a tree close by. Silver forced himself not to start swearing. Orochi had gotten herself hung up by the blade of Blue Wyvern, her crescent moon blade. The halbred-style weapon was able to cut through steel with precious little effort, and a fair portion the blade's back curve was lodged under Orochi's armpit.

Before Silver could react, Rampage walked over, took a look at the tree, and flicked it with his finger. The tree fell over, shifting Orochi away from her blade. Pitbull plucked the blade and helped Orochi to her feet.

Midnight turned to ask Silver what had happened, only to notice that he was grinding his teeth in agrivation. Midnight sighed and looked at him, then asked anyways. "What _happened_, dear? You did something."

"No, _something_ happened. Something tweaked the blasted spell." Silver heaved a breath, calming himself down. "It wasn't me. Wasn't the fool Manitou on the far side the metaphysical card table. Something from an outside source." Midnight glared, clearly not believing this.

"The upside is that Amp, Babel and Rave were out shopping. They're going to notice that we're missing, and they should be able to figure out what happened," Silver went on, ignoring Midnight's glare. "And then-"

Silver was interrupted by the sound of Rampage and Pitbull setting the tree upright. That was about the point he lost it. "Oh, for the love of Christ, you guys! Can't you do subtle? What do you think is going to happen if we're obvious with our powers?"

"Good question," came a voice from the group's left. "Care to see the answer?"

Silver turned and found himself looking into a pair of masked eyes that belonged to a boy only slightly younger than him. A boy who was leading his own team of supers.

"Great."

* * *

Robin frowned at the group. New villians, obviously. "Titans, go!" He snapped, and as one, the Teen Titans tore forward. Beast Boy turned into a gorrilla and headed for a skinny kid. Raven confronted the redhead, while Starfire took on the stocky black kid. He found himself face to face with the leader in a pair of bounds, and launched a kick at his head. The other boy leaned backwards. "This isn't what it looks like!" he spat as he dodged another blow. Cyborg leapt back nearby, avoiding the large blade the girl was swing at him.

"Knocking over trees isn't what it looks like?" Robin inquired, aiming another punch, only to catch what looked like a two of spades in the chest, finding himself hurled backwards. "Orochi was in a tight spot, and Rampage's kinda impulsive. Look, can we start over? My name's Silver."

Robin glanced over at Beast Boy, who'd pinned down the skinny boy. "Look's like we've got one of you already, Silver."

Silver glanced over and seemed to deflate slightly in frustration. "Oh, fer the love of…Rampage! Stop playing around!"

There was a muffled "Sorry," followed by the sight of Beast Boy being launched into the stratosphere. For a moment, the fighting paused at the almost ludicrous moment, then started back up. Silver face palmed.

"I didn't mean _full strength_," he muttered as Robin raised an eyebrow. Silver sighed, shrugged, and shook his head sadly. "You wouldn't expect the beanpole to be super strong, would you?"

Robin responded by throwing one of his boomerangs. Silver caught it neatly and threw it back, pinning Robin to the ground by his cape. Robin ripped it free, growled-

-and stopped dead as Starfire and Raven both fell out of the air. Lockdown looked around. "Did I miss something?"

"Nothing important, love," Rampage said, gratefully accepting the ice cream cone. Silver shrugged.

"Well, this has been an interesting experience. We mustn't do it again sometime. Better terms next time." Silver turned, and pointed towards the park exit. "Let's go, Wild Cards."

The Titans watched them go warily until Beast Boy impacted a few moments later.

"Man, who were those guys?" He asked dazedly.

"Called themselves the 'Wild Cards'," Cyborg muttered in response.

Robin frowned. "He must've been telling the truth."

Starfire glanced at the red-clad boy quizzically. "Who?"

"Their leader. Silver, he said his name was. Said the tree was an accident, that the kid who threw Beast Boy- Rampage- was just impulsive."

Cyborg blinked. "You think they're _good guys_?"

"Yeah. But we'll keep an eye on them just to make sure."

* * *

Unnoticed by either party, a shrouded feminine figure perched on a nearby street light. "Well. I guess it's true. If you want it done right, you'll have to do it yourself. " In a swirl of black serpentine energy, the figure vanished.


End file.
